Lisa Marie Barber
Duo: Mamacita’s House with Star Girl
ca. 2024
Medium: Ceramic and fiber
Kenosha, WI
RAM Artist Fellowships and Emerging Artist Award.
Presented by the Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Our Artist Fellowships support the work and growth of extraordinary artists in the Racine and Kenosha communities. Explore recent recipients and start your application today.
Mission
To showcase the diversity and vitality of the Racine/Kenosha visual arts community by supporting the professional development of its artists.
Goal
To distinguish the region as a place that values the arts, and enhance the area’s desirability as a place for artists to work and live.
Rebecca Bissi
The Little Black Dress
ca. 2021
Medium: Fiber
Racine, WI
Trace Chiodo
Impact Zone
ca. 2026
Medium: Photography
Racine, WI
Margaret M. Clark
Lake Michigan Rocks with Solids
ca. 2022
Medium: Painting
Kenosha, WI
Erin Krembs
A Lily in Bloom
ca. 2025
Materials used: Wool felt, acrylic paint, paper clay, paper, cardboard, PVC pipe, and thread
Size: 36 x 63 x 28 inches and 6 x 7 x 13 inches
Photography: Courtesy of Artist
Christopher Johns
16th Street #35
ca. 2019
Materials used: Acrylic, ink, and found paper
Size: 9 x 6 inches
Courtesy of Mary Johns
Photography: John Bolton
Jim Sincock
Trikaya
ca. 2015
Materials used: Carbon inket print on panel, beeswax, Damar resin, tar, shellac, and powdered silver pigment
Photography: Courtesy of Artist
Erin Krembs
A Lily in Bloom
ca. 2025
Materials used: Wool felt, acrylic paint, paper clay, paper, cardboard, PVC pipe, and thread
Size: 36 x 63 x 28 inches and 6 x 7 x 13 inches
Photography: Courtesy of Artist
Artist Eligibility & Selection
The eligibility requirements for applying have changed over time as new dynamics emerge. For this reason, interested artists are encouraged to review the criteria for each cycle as an aspect previously rendering someone ineligible may have changed.
- Four fellowship recipients will be selected based on the quality of artwork submitted and will represent a range of styles. Applicants must be over 21 years of age and not currently enrolled in a degree program.
- An Emerging Artist Award will be given to an artist who is between the ages of 21 and 39 on January 23, 2026 and cannot be currently enrolled in a degree-granting program.
- Applicants must specify during the application process whether or not they would also like to be considered for the Emerging Artist Award.
- Visual artists at all stages of their careers who reside anywhere in Racine and Kenosha counties are eligible. All art media are eligible.
- RAM full-time employees are not eligible to apply.
- Past RAM Artist Fellowship/Emerging Artist Award recipients are welcome to apply again but not for the term immediately following the term during which they won (i.e. if an artist was an award winner in 2024, they cannot apply again until 2028).
- Jurying results will be publicly announced on April 6, 2026.
Application Requirements
As this is all a digitally-oriented process, good photography of work submitted is an absolute must. Applicants need to present their work in its best light to jurors who may not be familiar with it. In addition, the quality of the initial photography speaks to the capability of the applicants to provide publishable quality photography of their work at various stages during the process leading up to the RAM Artist Fellowship and Emerging Artist Exhibition. This does not mean that the artists must pay to have their work professionally photographed at every stage—there is a photo studio at RAM’s Wustum Museum that can be scheduled for a small fee if an artist wants to begin and/or develop their skills for documenting their own artwork.
- Include an artist bio (no more than 150 words).
- Include an exhibition proposal statement (no more than 300 words).
- Upload 10 .JPG images of your artwork saved at 300 dpi resolution, at least 1800 pixels on the longest side, and with a file size no larger than 5 MB each.
- Each image must be labeled according to the instructions on the application.
- Videos can also be submitted. Artists should upload still images from the videos, and provide link to completed videos.
- Jurors select winners based on submitted digital images—no physical artwork is judged.
- Racine Art Museum reserves the rights to use all submission materials for promotional purposes.
- All application materials must be received no later than deadline date.
- Incomplete applications will be disqualified.
Important Dates
Deadline to Submit Application
Friday, January 23, at 4:00 pm
Artist Notification
Artists will be notified about whether they were selected by 5:00 pm on Thursday, March 12.
Public Announcement
RAM will publicly announce all award winners on Monday, April 6.
Exhibition Dates
RAM Artist Fellowship and Emerging Artist Exhibition 2027 will be on display at RAM’s Wustum Museum, August 25 – November 20, 2027.
2026 Jurors
Rafael Francisco Salas
Rafael Francisco Salas is a Wisconsin based artist. He combines landscape, the legacy of portraiture, architecture, and country music into artwork evoking a singular, rural poetry. He is represented by Portrait Society Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Salas has also worked as an arts writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Newcity Art Chicago, The Isthmus Magazine and Urban Milwaukee.
In 2022, Governor Tony Evers appointed Rafael Francisco Salas to the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout Wisconsin. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
Salas is a Professor of Art at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin.
Nicole Acosta
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, photographer Nicole Acosta is a first-generation Mexican American artist whose work primarily addresses identity, experience, place, culture, and storytelling. Acosta holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Management from Alverno College in Milwaukee. Prior to her transfer to Alverno College, she studied photography at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Milwaukee Area Technical College. Her work is included in the collections of the Milwaukee Women’s Art Library, the Charles Allis Museum, and the Racine Art Museum.
Acosta’s nationally recognized HOOPS Project—which tells the story of people of the global majority and gender-expansive folks who value hoop earrings—is her current focus. In 2023, Acosta became the 14th and first Latina Artist in Residence at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, held a solo HOOPS exhibition at the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) Art + Culture Hub gallery, and launched the world premiere of the HOOPS stage play written by playwright Eliana Pipes. In 2024, Acosta’s HOOPS Project was featured at RAM’s Wustum Museum owing to the award of an Equity Innovation Fund grant from the United Way of Racine County.
Katelyn Mitchell
Katelyn Mitchell is the Assistant Curator at the Racine Art Museum, where she curates exhibitions, assists with the production of juried shows, and conducts research on artists in RAM’s collection.
Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne is co-founder of OS Projects, a contemporary art gallery in downtown Racine, Wisconsin. He is also a founding member of ArtRoot, a Racine grassroots initiative seeking to build arts infrastructure, foster connections, and facilitate collaborations among local creatives.
Vera Scekic
Vera Scekic is the director of OS Projects, a founding member of ArtRoot, and a respected visual artist. Scekic has exhibited her paintings, drawings, and installations at art centers, galleries, and museums throughout the US